Baseball Earns First NECC Sweep with Two Wins over Dean

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College baseball team claimed its first conference doubleheader-sweep of the spring with a 9-5 win and 12-3 victory over Dean Friday evening at Adams Field.

The Lions climb to 14-11 on the year and 3-3 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) with the wins. The Bulldogs slide to 8-16 overall and 5-3 in league competition with the results.

Steven Pesce (Harrison, N.Y.) paced the offense with six hits, four runs scored, three RBIs, and one stolen base. Josue Basilis (Bronx, N.Y.) finished with three base knocks, three runs, four RBIs, and three stolen bases. Dylan Louviaux (Mohnton, Pa.) notched two hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Anthony Esposito (Mount Royal, N.J.) chipped in with three hits and three runs while Joshua Bombard (Rutland, Mass.) added three runs and two base knocks.

In game one, Eastern Nazarene rallied to pick up a crucial 9-5 win over Dean.

The visitors grabbed a 2-0 edge with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. Bryce Reilly singled to right field to drive in Landon Fish from second base. Travis Dinsdale followed with a double to left-center to score Reilly.

The home side rallied for three runs in the fourth to claim a 3-2 lead. Zachary Carmody (Babylon, N.Y.) motored home as Basilis rolled a squeeze bunt up the third-base line. Bombard crossed the dish on a wild pitch before Basilis scored on a heads-up play.

Dean reclaimed a two-run advantage with three runs in the top of the fifth, 5-3. Fish roped a bases-loaded triple to right-centerfield to plate Rolando Marcano, Jeff Sharnick, and Andrew Dirito.

Eastern Nazarene pulled to within one, 5-4, with one run in the home half of the fifth frame. Louviaux laced a base knock to centerfield to score Pesce from second base.

The Lions generated five runs in the sixth inning to jump ahead 9-5. Basilis landed a two-out single to knock in Bombard and Pesce. Louviaux scored from third as Anthony Castrogiovanni (Bohemia, N.Y.) drew a bases-loaded walk before Basilis scurried home on a wild pitch.

Brent Houle (Westfield, Mass.) tossed 4.1 innings in his sixth start of the season and posted two strikeouts. Daniel Rivera (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) worked 2.2 innings and fanned six in his team-leading ninth appearance.

In the nightcap, chalked up the first 10 runs of the contest en route to capturing a 12-3 win.

The Lions established an early 3-0 advantage with three runs in the first inning. Pesce collected his team-leading 25th RBI of the season with a double to left field to plate Connor Simpson (Haverhill, Mass.). Louviaux looped a two-out base knock to shallow right field to drive in Pesce and Esposito.

The hosts exploded for seven runs in the third inning to stretch their lead to 10-0. Matthew Urena (Flushing, N.Y.), Pesce, Bombard, Louviaux, Basilis, Esposito, and Simpson all crossed the dish in the frame.

Eastern Nazarene widened the gap to 11-0 with a run in the fourth as Urena scampered home on a wild pitch.

The Bulldogs got on the board in the fifth to slice the margin to 11-3. Hadden lifted a sacrifice fly to score Matthew Troy. Sharnick doubled to drive in Thomas Troy and Zachary Bochenek.

The Lions tacked on a run in the sixth to push their lead to 12-3. Carmody crushed a leadoff solo shot to left field for his team-leading second home run of the season.

Brenndan Rogers (Hanson, Mass.) tossed five innings in his sixth start of the year and racked up seven strikeouts. Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio) hurled one inning in his second game out of the bullpen and struck out two. Ryan Spina (Lake Grove, N.Y.) worked one inning of relief in his fourth outing of the spring.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene travels to Newbury for a pivotal conference series April 13.